Shawano County and the Menominee Tribe plan to ask the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for an exception to the state highway standards for an area intersection.
The exception would apply to the proposed realignment of the state Highway 47 and County Road G intersection.
Chapter 75 of the state’s transportation rules requires sidewalks and bike paths to be included with all new highway construction or reconstruction. In cases where only one can feasibly be built, sidewalks get priority.
Shawano County officials believe neither is necessary at the intersection. The county and tribe have received $400,000 from DOT for the joint project in 2015, but county Highway Commissioner Grant Bystol wants all the money for road rehabilitation.
“We’re in agreement with the Menominee Nation that there’s an absence of need for the accommodations along County G,” Bystol said.
The request has to formally come from the tribe, as the affected project is mostly part of the reservation, even though it is all within Shawano County. Corporation Counsel Tony Kordus is working on a resolution to send to the Tribal Legislature later this month.
“The sidewalk is just added expense, and who is going to maintain it?” Bystol said. “It’s just not needed right now. We need to look at some common sense on that one.”
Bystol noted that a sidewalk and/or bike path could be added at a later date if there ever were a need. Right now, the county expects that the only additional accommodation needed for the road project, which ends about 600 feet north of Spur Road, is a crosswalk for the cul-de-sac that will be created when the intersection shifts.
The intersection has been deemed a hazard due to poor sight lines. County Road G intersects Highway 47 at a 46-degree angle. The state standard for highway intersections is 70 degrees; 90 degrees is recommended.
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